The present invention relates to the configuration of functional capabilities in a data processing system.
An important feature of computer systems is the ability to adjust the provided processing and memory capacity depending on workload requirements, or to provide backup capacity for disaster recovery situations. Modern computer systems such as the IBM System z provide the capability to activate and deactivate additional processing capacity concurrently to normal system operation—i.e. the computer system does not have to be shut down or an operating system restarted to make use of the changed configuration. On Demand processor and memory capacity needs more physical capacity installed than enabled on computer systems. As long as there is dormant physical capacity available such capacity can be activated as the customer need demands. Additional processing capacity can be implemented using temporary processing resources that can be activated and deactivated as required on top of a permanent base configuration.
To prevent unauthorized activation of dormant capacity the activation is usually protected by a control system utilizing encryption as well as further secure methods binding the entitlement data to a specific machine. For example, patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,899 describes a method utilizing an unchangeable unique identifier that may be located within an integrated circuit chip. Temporary resource activation can be under control of an encrypted certificate using this unchangeable unique identifier. The Capacity on Demand features of IBM System z are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,616 and J. Probst et al. “Flexible configuration and concurrent upgrade for the IBM eServer z900”, IBM J. Res. & Dev., Vol. 46, No 4/5, July/September 2002, pp. 551-558. One major restriction of IBM's Capacity on Demand offerings is that each new temporary capacity offering requires additional firmware support. Also, the temporary capacity offerings are restricted in the number of times they could be activated.
Further, only one temporary capacity offering can be active in a computer system at a time. After permanent model conversions, a temporary capacity record has to be exchanged because it may be no longer usable on top of the new permanent configuration for a number of reasons. Because temporary records become unusable when the permanent configuration changes, they can not stay active during the application of the permanent upgrade. That is, temporary capacity has to be removed prior to the permanent model change, resulting in performance impact for the customer.